Shell reloaders of the type contemplated herein are used to recondition and reload used shell casings. The operation is completely automatic in that the used casings are moved through four operating stations on a fixed platen in a step by step manner in sequence to the operation of a die platen. The first station sizes the opening in the casing and decaps the case; the second station primes, expands and bells the case mouth, charges the case with powder and seats a primer cap in the casing; the third station seats the bullet in the top of the case; and the fourth crimps the case to the bullet. In some instances the bullet can be seated and the case crimped at the same time.
The primer caps are normally stored in a tube mounted on the front of the slide platen of the reloader. The caps are dropped into a hole in a primer slide either by gravity or by a force produced by the weight of a pin placed on the top of the primer caps. In rare instances, the primer cap that is being seated in the opening in the shell case explodes with sufficient force to explode all of the primer caps remaining in the storage tube. This explosive force is sufficient to cause physical damage if the operator is in close proximity to the reloader at the time of the explosion.